After a scorcher of a summer, the peanut harvest yielded far fewer nuts than expected, which means peanut butter prices are spiking by 30 percent or more. Glowimages/Corbis

October 13, 2011

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Imagining a world where chocolate becomes a costly luxury is hard enough — but now peanut butter, too? The reliable sandwich spread is becoming problematic, thanks to a peanut shortage that's sending prices skyrocketing, reports Tiffany Hsu of the Los Angeles Times. After searingly hot weather devastated the summer crop of Runner peanuts, the variety most widely used to make the creamy — or crunchy! — spread, the cost of raw peanuts has nearly tripled. A look at the numbers behind this "scary" new development: